Fernando Santos straightforward words to Cristiano Ronaldo on Switzerland sub role

The first mention of Cristiano Ronaldo‘s name prompted Fernando Santos to chuckle, as Joao Felix was thrown the opening hot potato.

Felix had no intention of providing the answer that was required and his coach smirked. A minute later, another question about you-know-who came in and Santos scrunched his weathered features up tightly, blew out his cheeks and covered his eyes. Here was a man fed up with it all.

So when Santos finally got his opportunity to speak, having been presented with a list of points about Ronaldo that required clarification — Did he want to leave the camp? Had he fallen out with his team-mates? What was his mood? — there was no holding back.

Fernando Santos spoke about the moment he told Ronaldo that he would be sub in their last-16 match with Switzerland 

Santos is trying to win a World Cup and Portugal are playing some terrific football, so he had no desire for a relentless narrative to derail them ahead of what will be a fascinating quarter-final clash with Morocco. The time had come to draw a line.

‘I did have a conversation with Cristiano and it would have been bad if I did not have that conversation with him,’ said Santos, explaining how he told Ronaldo — who started this World Cup breaking a record — he was about to become a bit-part player.

‘Since I took the helm of the national team, we needed to have a closer relationship with the players. That’s my approach, to have a close relationship with them.

Ronaldo wasn’t happy to start the match on the Portugal bench but came on in the second half 

‘So, that conversation needed to happen. I don’t do that with all the players. But he’s the captain. 

‘What he represents for Portuguese football, the people and its national team, I naturally needed to talk to him. I spoke to him after lunch on the match day, ahead of the Switzerland game. I did not have any conversation before. I explained to him why he would not be playing.

‘I did it so he wouldn’t be surprised. I invited him to my office and told him, ‘It’s better for our strategy if you didn’t play’. I said I’d save him for the second half. Cristiano was not very happy about it. He has always been one of the starting players.’

It is unusual for a head coach to go into such detail — particularly when the individual is as high profile as Ronaldo — but the openness Santos displayed, added to by his clear exasperation, enhanced his authority.

Continuing, Santos said: ‘He said, ‘Do you really think it’s a good idea?’ We had a conversation which explained my viewpoints. He never told me he wanted to leave. So, it’s high time we stopped with this conversation.

‘An example of what I just said is what he did at the match. He warmed up with the players. Even if he knew he wasn’t going to play. He celebrated all the goals we scored. At the end, he was the one who invited his colleagues to thank the fans.’

Santos has now demanded for Cristiano Ronaldo to be left alone ahead of the Morocco game 

Then came the parting shot, delivered with a glare.

‘It’s time for you to leave Ronaldo alone,’ Santos demanded. ‘In acknowledgement of what he has done for Portuguese football. Ninety per cent of the questions are due to him.

‘That’s because of the magnitude of his performance. What does it matter if I spoke to him before the match?’

Inevitably, all eyes will be on Ronaldo tonight and Santos is kidding himself if he thinks he will avoid any further enquiries, especially if Portugal succumb to a Moroccan team invigorated by the idea of creating history.

‘We have analysed Morocco and it will be complicated,’ said Felix, the Atletico Madrid forward. ‘Anything can happen but we are going to be ready to win. If Cristiano isn’t on the pitch, the team evolves. It’s not better or worse, it’s different.’